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Old 01-12-2009, 02:22 AM
Trigger Man Trigger Man is offline
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Default Cleaning with Vinegar

So I always hear everyone seems to clean their equipment with vinegar, so I figure I need to quite being lazy and at least clean my powerheads (maybe the next big step will be my return pump after that. So my question is how much vinegar do you guys mix with water, and do you then just put the equipment in there for a certain amount of time and rinse or is there more to it?
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Old 01-12-2009, 02:24 AM
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I use about a cup or two of vinegar to a half gallon of water, more if I'm in a hurry. I usually get impatient and scrub the stuff, but if you leave it long enough, the coraline will come off on it's own, assuming there isn't enough to neutralize the vinegar.
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Old 01-12-2009, 02:30 AM
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Good to know, being lazy myself I'm gonna use more and hopefully the coralline just comes off.
Thanks Brad for the response.
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Old 01-12-2009, 02:43 AM
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Let it sit for an hour or two and it should come right off, no scrubbing required.
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Old 01-12-2009, 01:36 PM
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I find using warm, but not hot water works best as well. It just seems to soften up coraline, but not remove it when the water is really hot.
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Old 01-12-2009, 02:13 PM
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I use about a 10 to 1 ratio of water to vinegar and let it soak overnight, after that you just rinse it off, hardly any scrubbing.
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Old 01-12-2009, 02:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger Man View Post
So my question is how much vinegar do you guys mix with water, and do you then just put the equipment in there for a certain amount of time and rinse or is there more to it?
I usaly use pure vinager for pumps and such, let them soak untill the coraline is soft then hit it with a brush under the tap to get all the cracks and crannies

Steve
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Old 01-12-2009, 03:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michika View Post
I find using warm, but not hot water works best as well. It just seems to soften up coraline, but not remove it when the water is really hot.
Catherine, heat only accelerates the reaction, but yes, it does speed it up. Basically you're creating an acid/base reation, the more acid (stronger vinegar) the quicker it happens. heat helps the reaction. Which is also the reason for my comment about lots of coraline, too much base and there isn't enough acid to complete the reaction, so you get left with white patches. Add more acid, the reation continues.

Steve, I understand that pure vinegar could eventually damage seals(rubber ones, not furry ones), oe was it bleach? Either way, I don't use pure vinegar because of this, and hell, it's 3 bucks a jug!
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Old 01-12-2009, 03:49 PM
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I use a 50/50 water & vinegar mix. I reuse it about 3 times before I throw it out.
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Old 01-12-2009, 04:04 PM
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Vinegar is pretty cheap at COSTCO. You get 2 hugh bottles for $3 or $4.

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